If the SS had to prove their Aryan geneology back to the 1700s, how did Muslim Slavs have their own SS units?

[Rob - wssob2]

The reason I specifically mentioned the Bosnians was because they were Muslim

Most but not all of the division's members were Muslim.

serving under the Arab Grand Mufti

The Grant Mufti was neither their military commander nor spiritual leader. Most probably didn't even know who he was when he reviewed troops from the unit.

with their own special fez hats with the totenkopf emblem on the front.

Which harkend back to the fez's worn by Austro-Hungarian Army units. (minus the eagle/swastika/death's head insignia of course)

Not the fez was part of the dress uniform issue. In combat, 13th SS troops wore helmets like anyone else.

I had always read about the SS race requirements and it's pretty clear that they didn't fit into that group.

Though Himmler felt that as former subjects of the Austo-Hungarian Empire, they had an obligation to serve.

I guess it makes more sense that they were Waffen SS soldiers rather than general German SS as they are more disposable and probably preferred for combat over the Germans.

The only reason they were Waffen-SS soldiers is because the Waffen-SS actively recruited them at a time (1942-43) when the Bosnian Muslim population of Bosnia-Herzegovina was getting attacked by Serb paramilitaries. The SS formed the division to act as a local protection force. I do agree with you that Himmler probably did see the "Mujos" as disposable.

'd still like to know about the blood group tattoo bvecause I wonder how many escaped prosecution after the war which would have been much easier without that defining mark.

Prosecution or repression?

Prosection = You are put on trial for something treason or war crimes.

Repression = You are discriminated against, denied rights, abused or lined up against a ditch and shot.

The Yugoslav government did prosecute a lot of the 13th SS Division senior leadership, leading to executions.

Many of the Bosnian Muslim rank and file escaped repression because they deserted the 13th SS Division in the late summer of 1944 and joined the Partisans.

[history1]

... Cossacks ... made it into the SS and in larger numbers

Cossacks were transferred to SS by Germans and just on paper and at the very end of the war and against their will. A piece of German paper doesn't make them SS soldiers, nor SS volunteers.
Cheers,
Ivan

But no one can deny that they fought in the Wehrmacht in big numbers and got betrayed by the British as POW, handing them over to the Soviets, causing their death:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lienzer_K ... g%C3%B6die

[jasongunpoint]

Good to know. I haven't read a whole lot about Mufti so I wasn't sure as to whether or not he commanded any troops. I did think he was a figure similar to Goebbels for the Eastern European Muslims. What I mean about the troops being more disposable is simply that it makes more sense that they were combat troops in the Waffen SS because it didn't make sense that they ignored SS race standards for having to be from a pure Aryan background as were required for membership in the general German SS which is what I wanted to know.

[jasongunpoint]

I meant prosecution as I had stated because from my understanding the SS was deemed a criminal organization at Nuremberg and members of the SS were sought out for war crimes. I know that not every member of the SS was a war criminal but after the war the allies did everything they could to find out who were in the SS by checking under their arm for the blood group tattoo.

[Halle]

jasongunpoint - George Leprés book " Himmlers Bosnian Division " pretty much covers the history of the division , from formation to capitulation - highly recommended .

Part of the reason for the units formation was the desire to foment a global Jihad amongst the British Empires Muslim population .

[AJFFM]

The Germans certainly toyed with the idea (which is why Max von Oppenheim survived anti-Jewish laws) but just like it failed in 1914 when Germany was not Nazi it failed the 2nd time around partly due to the fact that Hitler actively encouraged German Jewish population to emigrate to Palestine (and 10s of thousands did) before stopping it and partly due to the fact that there was a stronger pro-British feeling in the Muslim population (especially in India and non-Arab muslims in general) than in 1914.

[michael mills]

There were even adherents of Judaism serving in the Waffen-SS.

These were Karaites from the Crimea, a people who practised a non-rabbinic form of Judaism. In National Socialist racial theory they were considered to be not Jews by race, but rather Tatars who had converted to Karaite Judaism, and as such were exempt from the anti-Jewish measures (largely because they had also been exempt from the anti-Jewish measures of the Russian Empire).

After the Germans conquered the Crimea in 1941, they recruited Crimean Tatars into auxiliary police battalions. While most of the recruits were Muslims, some were Karaites. Eventually the Crimean police battalions were transferred to the Waffen-SS, which is how Karaites ended up serving in in that military formation.

When Himmler granted permission to the members of the non-German Waffen-SS formations to freely practice their ancestral religions, the Crimean Tatar members began openly practising Islam and the Karaites began openly practising their form of Judaism, which although differing from Rabbinic Judaism has a lot of rituals that are recognisably Jewish to the observer.

As might be expected, the open practice of Judaism by men in Waffen-SS uniform caused quite a scandal among senior SS commanders. Himmler resolved the issue by decreeing that the Karaite Waffen-SS men could continue to practise their religion, but only in private, where it would not cause offence.

[Aventoft]

The Grand Mufti never lead the 13th SS Divisions. The only times he visited the Waffen SS divisions was once in '41 and '44. And, apparently, there were cases when Hitler personally spoke to Speer regarding him converting to Islam, viewing them as Warriors of the Prophet Muhhamed. All peoples whose ancestors spoke an Indo-European languages were viewed as "Aryan". This included the inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent and Iran, and the term "Aryan" actually comes from the Indo-Iranian branch of the language. "Iran" is in origin the same word. You still had to still qualify as Aryan in order to become part of the Waffen-SS. It is understandable that towards the end of the war that the Waffen-SS had to gather all they could, but the men they recruited didn't give up so easily, and fought until the last man.